This year, first-degree karate black belt Quinn Brown has competed as a member of Team Saskatchewan on the national stage, and will represent Canada in Osaka, Japan- from Sept. 10-22- as a member of the Sintani Wado Kai Federation National Team.
Brown, a third-year Science student at the University of Regina who hails from Arcola, says: “It's kind of funny, because I always had the idea that someday I'd try out for the team, but I never really jumped on the opportunity before, because I felt like I never really had the time.”
“Now I'm in university full-time and working full-time this summer, but I feel like I've learned better time management,” he adds. “But the idea to think about tryouts at the provincial or national level was there for a while.”
“I belong to a club in Regina, but my home club was and still is the Moose Mountain Wado Kai Karate Club,” says Brown. “Through our club, I met up with a Sensei Heather Fidyk from Alberta, who is now a coach with the national team.”
“She encouraged me to try out for the Karate Nationals in January in Richmond, B.C., and the upcoming Sintani Wado Kai competition in Japan. Each competition features a different style of karate,” adds Brown. “At Nationals this past January, we competed under World Karate Association (WKA) rules. It was completely different from what we were used to doing and we had a pretty short time to prepare ourselves mentally and physically, but we did it.”
“There wasn't a lot of time to even get nervous, but the competition is tough. There's still that mental shift you have to make. You have to very diligent and completely committed to practicing.”
Brown's practice paid off in Richmond. As a member of Team Saskatchewan-the first team fielded by the province to compete at the event-he made it to the podium, earning a bronze medal.
“The official who presented us with our medals at the podium congratulated me and made a nice joke about how this was the first time Saskatchewan sent a team to Nationals and how we were making our presence felt.”
“Standing on that podium was an amazing experience,” adds Brown. “Looking into the crowd from that vantage point instead of looking up at the podium was really an unforgettable experience.”
“For our entire team-and any team competing at that level- being treated as-and competing as equals is really nice.”
“It felt pretty historic to be part of Saskatchewan's first team to go to Nationals and it was pretty inspiring to see those Olympic rings at the Olympic Oval in Richmond,”says Brown. “The whole experience is pretty hard to sum up in words.”
Brown's invitation to make the leap from provincial team member to Canada's national team came after a multi-day tryout in Calgary.
“In mid-May, the Western try-outs were held in Calgary. It was really a mix-we worked on a lot of things,” he says. “There was a day of fitness, testing on our basics in karate, and at the end, a mini-tournament, where you were judged against your competitors and future teammates.”
“Between the drills, the competition and everything else, I was pretty sore after it all,” laughs Brown. “When I got the email letting me know I was named to the team, it was only a couple of weeks later- but it felt like forever.”
“This summer I'm working full-time and I'm doing a lot of self-training. I started karate a little later, but I knew right away it was the sport for me,” he says. “There's a real karate family at Moose Mountain Wado Kai. I enjoyed the whole atmosphere there and I'm glad I'm still able to go there when school's out. I really just want to thank everyone for all the support I've been given, the opportunities I've been given, and everone who has helped me fundraise.”
“I'm really looking forward to competing in Japan. I think it will be really cool and I'm really excited to experience the culture.”
When asked about the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Brown says: “I definitely think about the Olympics, because karate originated in Japan. (The Olympics) are definitely a tough goal to attain and right now, I'm focused on remaining on the national team and school,” says Brown, who plans on a career in medicine.
“To compete for Canada in Japan this September is what I'm focused on right now. It's exciting and a great honour.”
